Haryana: Police file murder case in connection with death of BJP supporter during party's tractor yatra in Naraingarh

AMBALA: The district police slapped charges of murder, rioting, and criminal conspiracy against Bharatiya Kisan Union's (BKU) Ambala district president Malkiat Singh Sahibpura and six farmers, after a supporter of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) died during its tractor yatra near Naraingarh town on Wednesday.
The deceased has been identified as Bharat Singh (72) of Baragarh village in Ambala district. He was sitting on a tractor in BJP’s yatra, when his health condition suddenly deteriorated near Milan Palace on National Highway (NH) 7.
At this spot, the tractor yatra was confronted by BKU Haryana-associated farmers who were raising slogans against the government and BJP leaders amid heavy police deployment.
A video of the incident has also come to light, in which it is clearly visible that Bharat fell unconscious and he was taken to the hospital on a motorcycle, as there was no arrangement of ambulance by the district administration.
On the complaint of Bharat’s son, Bhupinder Singh, a case was registered against seven farmers, including Malkiat Singh, Fakir Chand, Amarjit, Jai Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh and Junty under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (punishment for murder), and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Naraingarh police station on Wednesday evening.
Bhupinder stated to the police, “On Wednesday, I along with my father Bharat Singh had come to join the tractor yatra in Naraingarh to support agriculture ordinances passed by the Government of India. The tractor was being driven by my friend Anil Kumar, incumbent sarpanch of Baragarh village. While heading towards Shahzadpur, when the yatra reached near Milan Palace in Naraingarh, a large number of Congress workers and supporters of Gurnam Singh Charuni were present. They blocked the main Ambala road. These people were equipped with flags and stones and they attacked the farmers present in the tractor rally.”
“On the instigation of Malkiat Singh, Fakir Chand, Amarjit, Jai Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Junty and 10/15 others connived and caused the injuries. They also had sticks in their hands and attacked our tractor and started assaulting and scuffling with us. In this scuffle, my father fell unconscious and when we attempted to rush him to the hospital, they obstructed our way. After struggling for about 30 minutes, my father was taken to Pasrija Hospital in Naraingarh, which was just a 5-minute drive but the doctor declared him dead,” Bhupinder alleged.
The police officials said that the post-mortem of deceased had been conducted and his body was kept at the mortuary at civil hospital in Naraingarh, which would be handed over to the family on Thursday.
However, the family members are maintaining that they would not accept the body for cremation until the accused are arrested.
Ambala range IG said, “As per the details, a senior citizen, who was sitting on a tractor behind Nayab Singh Saini, fell unconscious due to heat and he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died. His family has given a complaint and a case has been registered which will be investigated.”
BKU Haryana (Charuni) Rakesh Kumar Bains said, "The government is politically pressing police to suppress our agitation by registering back-to back false cases against farmers. The case should have been registered against MPs Nayab Saini and MoS Kataria for bringing a senior citizen to the tractor rally and for violating norms."